Getting Back to It

Okay so I made an early New Year's resolution to keep this thing updated. Let's see if we can make that happen.

There is an excellent video posted on The Big Picture of an interview with the Chairman of Blackstone Pete Peterson. It seems a little dated though, I must admit. Regardless, this is a sit down with a truly wise man He talks straight about the real problems America faces long term - ever mounting debt, social security and healthcare pledges etc. He also discusses what's wrong with the current American mindset and some possible causes. 15 minutes well spent.

Black Friday sales figures seem to be pretty good as well. Marketwatch reported that they are up 3% from last year (here), a figure which surprised me somewhat. Maybe consumers are feeling a little more confident now that Obama has been elected and oil continues to fall? I'm sure the sales were also enormous.

Also, another story I read that made me smile was that Trump Entertainment is to miss an interest payment. I have always hate a very strong hate for Mr. Trump and always felt that he was an incredibly self-important charlatan. Looks as if another Trump company is hitting the skids. I feel sorry for the employees if this firm folds, but I will not feel sorry for Mr. Trump.

It will be interesting to see what the coming week brings. A new month, maybe some cheer off the back of the Black Friday numbers? Hard to say though. Given the rally we saw last week I would have to put my money on a pullback to start it off.